31 things BC can do right now to end violence against women

In honour of International Women's Day, each day in March, the Jane Doe Legal Network is putting forward 31 practical things that BC can do to put an end to gendered violence and promote women's equality.

Over the past two decades, reports and plans have filled bookshelves, filing cabinets and hard drives. These documents have been generated through community-based and academic research, though project evaluations and through government consultations. Many of these reports have been informed by the hard-won expertise and insights of anti-violence organizations, feminist activists and women who have personally experienced gendered violence. Some have included excellent analysis and powerful recommendations, but implementation has consistently been spotty at best.

Women in British Columbia have waited too long already. That is why we are offering 31 things that BC's new Provincial Office of Domestic Violence (PODV) can push for right now to increase safety for women and to bring us closer than we have ever been to ending violence against women once and for all. We are calling for 31 social, economic and legal changes, none of which are unachievable in this province. Some would require very little financial investment, and each of them will save resources in the long term given the high costs of violence against women.

We chose March to put forward these practical recommendations to mark International Women’s Day and to honour BC’s long and vibrant history of feminist activism. Everything we are proposing is built on a solid foundation laid by women who came before us and by women across the province who continue to work tirelessly to put an end to gendered violence and to achieve substantive equality for women. We have already sent the full list to PODV. Over the coming month we will be releasing one thing BC can do each day. We are inviting women and men who believe in a world without gendered inequality and violence to join us in tweeting, posting to facebook and otherwise sharing one thing that BC can do to end violence against women each day for the month of March.